The Hammer
Chapter 4: The Hammer
In town, Lyssa and Jane sat in the van outside the library, waiting for Erik to send the email to his colleague. The two women were silent, Jane mulling over her lost research while Lyssa kept an eye on Aria through the rearview mirror, the baby playing with a few toys in her car seat and babbling away to herself without a care in the world.
“Jane, we’ll get through this.” Lyssa said gently, glancing at Jane through the rearview mirror. “We’ll get our research back.”
“Yeah, I guess.” Jane said with a quiet sigh. She glanced at Lyssa for a moment, managing to shoot her a small smile before turning her gaze out the window, watching the slow bustle of the town they resided in. “Hey, is that Thor?” She asked, pointing to a distinctly familiar figure walking along the street across from them.
Lyssa followed her line of sight and saw the man Jane was referring to. “I think it is.” Lyssa said, watching as he entered the pet shop. She looked at Jane through the rearview mirror, seeing the contemplating glint in her pretty brown eyes. “You’re not about to suggest what I think you’re about to suggest, are you?” Lyssa asked nervously.
“That depends, what do you think I’m about to suggest?” Jane asked, a small smirk playing about her lips.
Lyssa looked at the stubborn older woman for a moment before sighing in defeat; Jane was a lot like Lyssa herself was – more stubborn than a mule. There was no talking Jane out of her crazy idea. “Fine.” Lyssa said, straightening in her seat and starting the engine. “But if Erik gets angry, I’m blaming you.”
“Duly noted.” Jane said with a nod, checking Aria’s seatbelt and buckling her own.
Lyssa pursed her lips and began driving, going only a few feet before stopping. She honked her horn to get Thor’s attention and when the man turned to face the sound, she opened her window. “Do you still need a lift?” She asked.
Thor immediately walked out of the shop and crossed the road, walking around the front of the van before climbing into the front passenger seat next to Lyssa. Once he was buckled in, Lyssa helping him since he had no idea how to, she started the engine once more and began driving down the road.
Jane repeatedly glanced at Thor out of the corner of her eye, trying to be discreet while passing her actions off as playing with Aria. The little girl provided a running commentary of everything she could see through the tinted windows, uncaring that no one could understand her.
“My Lady, how old is your daughter?” Thor asked, looking at Lyssa and breaking through Aria’s babbling.
“22 months.” Lyssa replied, glancing at Thor briefly with a smile before turning her attention back to the road. “She’ll be 2 in July.”
“I see.” Thor said, nodding. “And she was first your niece?”
“Yes, my younger brother’s daughter. James and his wife were murdered last year, and I got custody of Aria.” Lyssa said, studiously keeping her focus on the road so she didn’t tear up at the memory of the previous Halloween that had sent her entire world into a tailspin.
“There is more to your tale.” Thor said knowingly, looking at her with a piercing gaze.
“Yes, there is.” Lyssa acknowledged, not bothering to lie. She glanced at Jane through the rearview mirror. “How are you doing, Jane?” She asked the older woman.
“I’m good.” Jane replied with a slightly high-pitched voice.
“You sure?” Lyssa asked skeptically, completely unconvinced.
“Yeah.” Jane replied with the same high-pitched squeak, nodding fervently.
Lyssa glanced at Thor, noticing his raised eyebrows and amused smile. “Jane’s never done anything like this before.” She explained helpfully.
Thor nodded in understanding, remembering how it had been the first time he had done anything of the sort and how tense he had been.
“Have you ever done anything like this before?” Jane asked, leaning forward in her seat and looking at Thor, her voice no longer overly high pitched.
“Many times.” Thor replied with a grin. He looked at Lyssa curiously, noticing that she hadn’t included herself in her explanation of Jane’s behavior. “And yourself, Lady Lyssa?”
“Nothing like this in particular, but I’ve done my fair share of crazy things.” Lyssa replied with a light laugh.
“But you are brave to do it, Lady Jane.” Thor said, turning to look at Jane and smiling gently at her.
“Well, they just stole my entire life’s work.” Jane muttered furiously, her temper rising once more and only tempered by Aria’s grip on her fingers as she played with them. While it had also been Lyssa’s research that had been stolen, Jane had been the one who started it in the first place and had later approached the redhead with her theories before both women then approached Erik. “I don’t really have much left to lose.”
“Yeah, but you and Lady Lyssa are both clever.” Thor remarked thoughtfully. “Far more clever than anyone else in this Realm.” He added with a slight scoff, thinking about the mortals that resided on Earth.
“‘Realm’?” Jane repeated. “‘Realm’?”
“You think me strange.” Thor commented knowingly, glancing at Jane.
“Yeah, I do.” Jane admitted.
“But you, Lady Lyssa, do not.” Thor said, turning to Lyssa.
“Not in the least.” Lyssa said bluntly, looking at him and shaking her head.
The van suddenly skidded, and the tires screeched as they nearly went off road in Lyssa’s split moment of distraction. Lyssa frantically regained control of the wheel and seconds later they resumed their smooth drive along the dirt road. Lyssa, Thor and Jane exchanged looks and began laughing, Aria’s own peals of laughter mixing in.
“I’m sorry.” Lyssa said, her laughter slowing before fading completely. She glanced at Aria through the rearview mirror, the toddler still laughing delightedly to herself and playing with her toys happily. “Jane, can you give Aria her bottle, please? It’s in her bag.”
"Sure.” Jane replied, pulling the mentioned bottle of milk out of the diaper bag. “You wanna have some milk, Aria?” She asked the toddler, holding the bottle out to her.
“Yeth, p’eas’.” Aria replied, beaming happily and reaching out for the bottle. Jane watched her carefully as she latched onto the end and began suckling away in content.
“Is she okay?” Lyssa asked, glancing at Jane through the rearview mirror with a worried look crossing her face.
“She’s okay, Lyssa, don’t worry.” Jane said reassuringly.
“I’m a Mum, Jane. It’s my job to worry.” Lyssa said dryly, turning her focus back to the road.
“Fair enough.” Jane said, deciding not to argue with the redhead. Truthfully, she didn’t have much of a basis to argue with. Lyssa had been through so much in so little time that no one who knew her could blame her for worrying.
Thor watched Lyssa out of the corner of his eye, seeing the slight lines of worry creasing her brow and the tightness of her grip on the wheel that controlled the vehicle they were in. He had noticed from early on that the woman had the bearing of living through war and the mark it left on her; perhaps not any physical ones, but certainly the emotional ones that were only noticeable if one knew what to look for.
Not for the first time, he was struck by how strong the tiny woman was, holding herself up high when it seemed like the Universe was trying its very best to crush her.
“But who are you?” Jane asked, drawing Thor out of his thoughts. He turned his attention to her. “Really?”
“You’ll see soon enough.” Thor said after a moment’s pause, deciding that showing her would be much easier than explaining it.
“You promised us answers.” Jane said in irritation, taking the response to be a brush off.
“Jane, he didn’t mean to brush you off.” Lyssa said soothingly. “I’m sure it’s just one of those things that are much easier to show than explain.”
“In a way.” Thor said, nodding in agreement. “But I will try my best to explain.” He turned slightly in his seat and looked at Jane. “What you seek, it’s a bridge.” He explained.
“Like an Einstein-Rosen Bridge?” Jane asked hopefully.
“More like a Rainbow Bridge.” Thor corrected.
“The Bifrost Bridge!” Lyssa exclaimed in realization. “ That’s what it was last night, that vortex of clouds.”
“Indeed.” Thor said, nodding.
“God, I hope you’re not crazy.” Jane muttered, shaking her head.
Lyssa giggled at the comment and it soon turned to full blown laughter. Thor joined in, his deep baritone mixing in with her soprano sound.
Jane watched the pair of them, absently holding Aria’s bottle up when her grip slipped as she began dozing off. She was struck by how the sound of their laughter blended so harmoniously and remembered the way Thor had watched Lyssa, the look of amazement in his eyes that went beyond just knowing of the strength and fortitude the young woman possessed. Where earlier that day Thor had been working his way up towards besotted and smitten, he was now beginning to respect Lyssa for having the courage to remain strong in the face of all that she had been through.
A pang shot through her, a mix of sadness and jealousy that Jane roughly and adamantly pushed aside just as she had before. She couldn’t blame Lyssa for something she wasn’t even aware of nor could she blame Thor for something that most people who encountered the young woman couldn’t help but feel. And of their small makeshift family, Lyssa deserved whatever happiness she could find.
Slowly, Lyssa and Thor stopped laughing and the woman focused on the road once more. Thor watched her curiously, unaware of Jane watching his actions.
“That mark of the crescent moon on your forehead, what is it?” Thor asked curiously after several moments of silence.
“My birthmark.” Lyssa replied.
“I see.” He said, nodding. He was silent for several minutes before asking another question, this time about Lyssa herself and about some of the crazy things she said that she had done in her life.
Lyssa laughed and replied along the lines of having the Marauders as brothers being the main reason for her wild youth.
The two fell into a back and forth conversation, ending up playing 20 Questions without even realizing it. All the while, Jane watched their interactions with a small, sad smile on her face, seeing the light shine in Lyssa’s eyes for the first time in almost 6 months.
Eventually, the two stopped their mutual questioning as night fell and they reached the crater that they had been told about. A portable facility was constructed around it in a maze of stark white and clear corridors and the entire area was lit by massive flood lights. It was filled with scientists and guards, the latter all heavily armed but there was no doubt that even the scientists had some form of combat training that made them more than just ‘lab nerds’.
Thunder crashed overhead, the clouds rolling across the night sky and heralding the pending arrival of a storm as Thor, Lyssa and Jane climbed out of the van. Thor lifted Aria out of her car seat and helped Lyssa bundle her up in her blanket, the toddler wide awake and alert after her brief nap.
“That’s no satellite crash!” Jane hissed, lying flat on a boulder and looking out at the facility through a pair of binoculars. “They would have hauled the wreckage away; they wouldn’t have built a city around it.”
“I told you before, it was very unlikely that it was a satellite crash.” Lyssa said, settling beside Jane. The redhead looked through a pair of her own binoculars, holding Aria firmly in place between them both with her other hand.
“You’re going to need this.” Thor said, removing his jacket and carefully draping it over both women and Aria.
“What?” Jane asked, looking at him curiously while Lyssa made sure Aria was properly bundled in her blanket and covered by the jacket. Lyssa silently cast an undetectable Extension Charm on it so that it could cover all three of them. “Wait, why?” Jane asked.
Thunder rumbled overhead and they all looked up at the sky. Thor grinned at the sound.
“I’m guessing that’s why.” Lyssa said calmly.
“Now stay here.” Thor said, looking at both women. “Once I have Mjølnir, I will return the items they have stolen from you. Deal?”
“No.” Jane said firmly, shaking her head. “Look what’s down there. You think you’re just going to walk in, grab our stuff and walk out?”
“I think he’s going to fly out.” Lyssa threw in helpfully.
“Indeed, I will.” Thor said, quietly standing up.
Jane watched him go incredulously while Lyssa quietly prayed that his plan would work. There was a part of her that didn’t think it would. Something about the way he had landed on Earth and the little he had revealed about the events leading up to his banishment made her believe that there was something he needed to learn before he could reclaim his powers. If his arrogant attitude was anything to go by, she was willing to bet that he needed to learn humility and compassion for others in order to pass this test.
Sighing softly and pushing her less than favorable thoughts aside, she watched Thor approach the facility through her binoculars. The golden-haired man cut the wire, slipped through and hid behind a few barrels. A patrol of guards drove up to the gap in the fence and just as they stopped the jeep, Thor slipped out from his hiding spot and knocked each of them out with a swift blow to the face.
Jane and Lyssa exchanged looks while Aria clapped delightedly at the sight of the friendly golden-haired man still standing. Thor grabbed a raincoat from the back of the jeep and slipped it on, lifting the hood over his head to cover his striking features. For several seconds, all they could see was Thor’s figure flitting in and out of sight as he snuck his way towards the facility itself.
Suddenly, klaxon alarms began blaring, filling the air with the warning sounds. Aria, startled by the loud noise, began crying though thankfully the sound wasn’t heard over the noise of the alarms.
“Shh, it’s okay, my darling.” Lyssa cooed, rubbing Aria’s back soothingly. “Everything’s okay.”
Indistinct voices began filling the air as the guards went on alert. The scientists also went on alert, keeping their own weapons in reach while they continued their assigned tasks.
Jane gasped and pulled out her phone, frantically dialing a number from memory.
“You’ve reached Dr. Erik Selvig. Please leave me a message.” Erik’s preprogrammed voice recited on the messaging system.
“Hi, Erik, it’s me.” Jane said quietly. “Don’t worry, I’m fine and so are Aria and Lyssa. But just in case you don’t hear from any of us in the next hour, just come by the crater site and try and find us, okay?”
“That’s because we did precisely what you had asked us not to do.” Lyssa added, rubbing Aria’s back soothingly. She had stopped crying but was gripping her blanket and Lyssa’s shirt tightly with clenched fists. “I am very sorry for disobeying you.”
“I’m sorry, too.” Jane said weakly, speaking to Erik and to Lyssa. Lyssa nodded in acceptance, knowing that she didn’t really have much ground to stand on since she could have easily told Jane to carry out her crazy idea on her own. “So sorry.” Jane continued into the phone. “Bye.” She hung up the phone and tucked it back into her pocket. She turned back to her previous position, joining Lyssa and Aria as they watched Thor duck past the guards.
Thunder crashed above them. Lyssa winced, rubbing her ears as the sound of a high-pitched hum reached her followed by a slowly increasing wave of magic.
“Lyssa?” Jane asked, looking at her worriedly. “You okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.” Lyssa said, smiling reassuringly at the older woman.
The humming sound stopped, though Lyssa could still feel the magic in the air and a torrent of rain poured down on them without warning. Lyssa and Jane quickly lifted the jacket over their heads, Aria between them and protected from the sudden shower. They watched as Thor ran across the grounds and entered the tunnel.
“Oh no.” Lyssa said worriedly, seeing the guards’ movements.
“What is it?” Jane asked.
“The guards know he’s in the facility.” Lyssa said with a frown, not looking away from the scene below.
“Can’t you use your magic?” Jane asked.
“No.” Lyssa replied helplessly, shaking her head. “Not without knowing what kind of magic Mjølnir channels; it’s already releasing a wave of magic, which I’m assuming is interfering with their equipment. If I go in and start casting haphazardly, I might just blow New Mexico off the face of the planet with the clash of differing magics. And that is if I’m lucky.”
“ That is lucky?” Jane asked incredulously. “On second thought, scratch my idea.”
“Mhmm.” Lyssa hummed dryly.
They turned their focus back to the facility, watching as the guards ran inside and tried to converge on Thor. It was evident that all the guards were being defeated by him as he ploughed his way through the maze of corridors towards Mjølnir that resided in the middle of the compound. Lyssa noticed one guard climb into a portable lift with his weapon, which looked to be a compound bow, while Thor himself ended up thrown out of the corridor through the plastic wall and onto the muddy ground outside as he grappled with another guard.
Thor and the guard fought while the man in the lift, whom Lyssa recognized as Agent Barton, codenamed ‘Hawkeye’, notched his bow and aimed his arrow at them. It was clear that he was waiting for orders to fire as well as for a clear shot so as not to accidentally shoot his colleague. But Lyssa had a feeling that Agent Barton was skilled enough to hit his target without seriously hurting his colleague even if the latter was in the way of the shot.
Finally, Thor managed to aim a particularly good kick at the guard and knock him out. He walked purposefully towards the facility that housed his weapon and pulled apart the clouded plastic that stood in his way. Lyssa could see Barton aiming his bow at the blond, waiting for the order to release the notched arrow.
“Come on, Thor.” Lyssa muttered under her breath, watching him enter through the hole he had made. “Before they shoot at you.” Not for the first time in the past few minutes she wished she could safely use her magic to at least cast a shielding spell over Thor to protect him as much as possible from the guards and their weapons, but she knew she couldn’t risk it.
The two brilliant women waited with bated breath, watching Thor’s shadowed figure through the plastic sheet reach out and grasp the handle of the hammer. The man tugged at the hammer, struggling to lift it.
“He can’t lift it.” Lyssa said solemnly, her brow furrowed.
“What d’you mean?” Jane asked, confused.
“Look, he’s struggling to lift it.” Lyssa explained, pointing out Thor’s shadowed figure behind the plastic sheets where he was fruitlessly tugging at the hammer.
A loud anguished scream pierced the air, drawing the two women’s attention. Aria, becoming startled, clutched Lyssa’s arm but thankfully remained silent while the two women sadly looked at Thor’s shadowed figure. The man was facing upwards, screaming his despair to the heavens as though his father may hear him.
“Whosoever holds this hammer, if he be worthy, shall possess the power of Thor.”
Lyssa looked up at the sound of the whispered voice, the same as the one she had heard the previous night even if the words were different. It echoed on the air, heard by the witch despite the unrelenting downpour of rain that prevented anyone else from hearing it, even if they were inclined to do so.
The redheaded witch sighed softly, absently rubbing Aria’s back; her earlier suspicion that Thor had something to learn was proven correct. Until he was once again deemed worthy by the enchantment placed on Mjølnir, he would never be able to lift it or regain his powers. A tear of sympathy fell from Lyssa’s eye and rolled down her cheek, silently falling into the dirt as Thor fell to his knees in despair.
For a single second, no one moved. Then, when the order came from presumably the ranking agent, Barton lowered his weapon and the guard units converged into the pit where Thor sat dejectedly in front of his hammer. They collected, handcuffed and led Thor away, the man completely silent and unresisting.
“We should go.” Jane said quietly, voice filled with unease.
Lyssa nodded and the two women carefully got to their feet, Lyssa gathering Aria into her arms while making sure she remained covered against the rain. After glancing around and casting a silent spell to erase any evidence of their presence, they carefully began walking down the small slope and back towards the van.
“Mama, what ‘bout Thow?” The little girl asked, looking up at Lyssa with large, innocent green eyes.
“I don’t know, baby, I don’t know.” Lyssa replied honestly, running a hand through the girl’s raven locks.
They soon reached the van and Jane unlocked it, climbing into the passenger side while Lyssa buckled Aria into her car seat and gave her bottle to her. She closed the door and looked up towards the sky that was slowly stopping its downpour. If the legends were anything to go by, then Heimdall had the ability to see everything that occurred in the universe.
“Heimdall, I don’t know if you can see or hear me, I don’t know how much of the stories about you all are true, but I will get Thor back.” Lyssa vowed determinedly. “Someway, somehow, I will get him back. I know it may not mean much, especially since you probably have no idea who I am, but Heimdall, if you can see or hear me, I promise I will. And I’ll look after him and protect him until he learns whatever it is that he’s supposed to learn, until he is once again worthy of wielding Mjølnir.”
With determination swirling deep within her moonlit silver eyes, she climbed into the driver’s side of the van and turned on the engine, beginning the drive back into town.